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Twenty-two years after being selected as the back-up candidate for NASA's Teacher in Space Program, former third-grade teacher Barbara R. Morgan finally is scheduled for lift-off: as a full-fledged astronaut. She will serve as a mission specialist on the space shuttle Endeavour mission scheduled to launch August 7. Education World talked to Morgan in May 2000, just as she was completing her second round of astronaut training -- nearly 14 years after completing the first round.

In August 1984, President Ronald Reagan launched the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration's Teacher-in-Space program with the announcement
that a teacher would be one of the first "civilians" to travel aboard
a space shuttle. In July 1985, NASA selected New Hampshire high school
teacher Christa McAuliffe as the primary teacher in space. NASA chose
Barbara Morgan, an elementary school teacher from Idaho, as McAuliffe's
backup.

In January 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded, killing
all seven people aboard, including teacher-astronaut Christa McAuliffe.
Following the accident, Morgan returned to her third-grade classroom
in McCall, Idaho, where she continued to teach and to work as NASA's Teacher
in Space designee. In January 1998, NASA again selected Morgan as an astronaut
candidate and assigned her to that year's astronaut training class.

Read about some of the educational and other activities on the schedule during Endeavour's mission.

Education World: You were selected as NASA's first education
mission specialist. What exactly is an education mission specialist?

Barbara Morgan: Well, there are two kinds of astronauts --
pilots and mission specialists. The pilots are the commanders and pilots
of the shuttle. The mission specialists serve several different roles.
We train to become flight engineers, which means we monitor everything
the commander and pilot do in flying the shuttle. Other jobs mission specialists
perform include performing EVA, or extra-vehicular activity (space walking),
conducting robotic arm work, and running onboard science experiments and
education activities. An education mission specialist is someone who,
along with all her other astronaut jobs, gets to focus on education. I'm
glad about that! Another big part of it is providing NASA with a teacher's
perspective.

EW: Does every flight have an education mission specialist?

Morgan: Now that would be great! But no -- especially not right
now because there's only one person. But that will grow. My personal goal
is to do the best job I can so there will be lots more. But there
are education activities on many flights. For example, some flights have
EarthKam. With it, students conduct research by programming an onboard
digital camera to take pictures of specific places on Earth.

EW: What part of astronaut training did you find most difficult?

Morgan: The only thing that's really difficult is that there's
so much to learn, and it's so exciting, and you want to learn it all,
and do it well. There aren't enough hours in the day, so budgeting your
time is hard.

EW: Is it physically difficult?

Morgan: [laughing] Have you ever taught a class of third graders?

EW: It's not more difficult than teaching?

Morgan: When I first arrived here, people would stop me in
the hallway and say, "Boy, this is really different from teaching, isn't
it? It's hard isn't it?" I'd just laugh and say, "No harder than teaching!"
And they'd say, "Just wait! You're in the honeymoon period right now.
Just wait until you're really in the thick of your training." And I thought
to myself that they will never understand unless they've been a classroom
teacher, that no matter how hard they make it, it will never be harder
than teaching. That's not to say it's not physical, of course. We have
to keep physically in shape. It's part of our job and part of our training.
For example, over the next two weekends, we'll go through scuba training
to get ready for EVA training.

EW: Why, do you think, should we teach students about space?

Morgan: Space is a great motivator. It's a natural motivator
for kids. I used to tease that if you don't give kids something exciting
to explore, they're going to explore on their own. They'll explore the
underside of their desks for the gum that's stuck there. Space captures
their imagination and allows us to help them make a connection between
classroom learning and the lifelong learning that we're doing as a people.
Exploring our universe is an important part of education for all of us.

EW: Do you think your training as an astronaut has made you
a better teacher?

Morgan: Yes and no. The yes side is that teachers teach best
through example and through experiences -- just as our children learn
best through example and experiences. The more learning we can do as teachers,
both inside and outside our classrooms, the richer the learning experiences
we can provide for our students. Another yes is that I get to go through
this astronaut training with a teacher's point of view. I'm watching very
carefully how NASA teaches its astronauts and how different astronauts
learn. It's given me a different perspective on learning styles and teaching
styles, and I look forward to eventually being able to use that knowledge
and share it with other teachers.

EW: And the no part?

Morgan: Well, I worry about losing "that touch" after being
out of the classroom for a few years. Teaching is an art and a skill,
and it's something that you need to practice just like any other art and
skill. Part of it is like riding a bike. Once you learn how to do it,
you know how to do it. But part of it is very much not like riding
a bike. If you don't keep sharp on those skills, you lose them -- or at
least you're not as good at them. I'll have some practicing to catch up
on!

EW: So you do plan on going back to the classroom?

Morgan: Yes. Oh, yes.

EW: You don't think teaching will be boring after being an
astronaut?

Morgan: The classroom boring? I never found any day boring!
I love the classroom. It's such a vibrant and changing world -- every
day. I think that's one of the things I love most about it. In addition
to helping young people reach their potential and helping turn on those
lightbulbs, you're thinking, doing, and learning -- constantly.

EW: Has being a teacher made you a better astronaut?

Morgan: Teachers are very well prepared to be astronauts. I
brought with me here what every teacher brings to the classroom every
single day -- motivation, determination, and an enthusiasm for learning
and teamwork. Teachers are also skilled at working with complex people
in a complex environment. Here, for example, each shuttle mission is an
extremely technical and complex challenge. And with the International
Space Station, 16 countries are working together designing and assembling
in space an incredible scientific laboratory and exploration outpost.
So whether I'm training for spaceflight, doing my technical "ground job,"
or actually flying in space, those teacher qualities make a huge difference.

EW: What is the most important part of this program to you
personally?

Morgan: The most important thing to me is doing this for teachers.

EW: What did the Teacher-in-Space program do for education?

Morgan: The Teacher-in-Space program brought a lot of positive
focus to education. In fact, NASA's first goal for the Teacher-in-Space
program was to raise the public's image of the teaching profession. When
Christa McAuliffe was chosen as our teacher in space, it was shortly after
A Nation at Risk had been published, and education wasn't
faring too well in the public eye. And what a great job Christa did! She
showed everyone what good teachers were like and brought attention to
education in a positive way.

EW: What made you sign up for the Teacher-in-Space program?

Morgan: Well, I'm a teacher, and we can't help ourselves! It
was simply a wonderful opportunity to bring the world to our students
and a great opportunity to highlight the important role of teachers.

EW: A NASA official has said that you were offered this opportunity
because NASA has a long-standing obligation to you. Do you agree that
NASA has an obligation to you?

Morgan: NASA has a long-standing commitment to teachers
. NASA knows that a strong space program is built on a strong education
program. Every person who works here had teachers who made a difference.
This opportunity shows, in a very visible and symbolic way, how much it
values classroom teachers.

EW: Did the Challenger accident affect your attitude
toward the space program? Are you more fearful now, or do you have less
confidence in the program?

Morgan: After the Challenger accident, when I was
asked if I would continue with the program, I had absolutely no qualms.
I feel the same way today. Our children learn a lot by watching what adults
do. They watch to see what adults do in a good situation, and they watch
to see what adults do in a bad situation. At the time of the Challenger
accident, we had kids all over the country and all over the world
watching to see what adults do in a bad situation. The right thing to
do was to not stop our children's future, to show them that, yes, the
universe is still completely open to them. We fix what's wrong and we
do our best to push forward and make things better. The Challenger
accident was wrong, but what the Challenger mission was
trying to accomplish was right. It's important for children growing up
to see adults doing this kind of thing -- living life to its fullest,
learning all they can, weighing and then taking some risks for things
that are important. I can't think of anything more important than our
children and their education.

EW: Did your students express fear about what you're doing?

Morgan: Some of them worry, but mostly they're excited. They
know why it's important, and I try to give them the confidence that even
though you can't take all the risk out of it, you do everything you can.
That's a big part of our training; it's a big part of how NASA makes decisions
around here. Safety is number one. You can't take away 100 percent of
the risks, but you also can't let that stop you from doing something important.

EW: What do you see as the most important contribution you can
make to other teachers?

Morgan: I feel that the most important contribution is simply
doing the best job I can to represent teachers and education well and
to be a team member who helps make a mission successful -- whether it's
a shuttle or a station mission or my daily technical job.

EW: Are there opportunities for other teachers to become involved
in space education?

Morgan: There are many wonderful opportunities for students
and teachers to become involved. I would encourage them to start online
with the NASA Education
Program. Those sites and non-NASA sites, such as the
Challenger Center, provide programs, resources, and links to other
outstanding organizations at which teachers can find hundreds of additional
opportunities.

EW: Do you have a favorite space-related activity that you
used with your students?

Morgan: Oh, there were so many -- and whatever activity we
were doing at the time was usually our favorite! Right now what pops into
my mind is a "star night" we held at the ski hill above McCall, Idaho.
The temperature was 10 below zero, and at first, the parents stayed in
the cars, keeping warm -- that is, until they realized how excited their
kids were. Pretty soon, we had parents pushing their own children aside
to look through the telescopes. The beauty of space exploration in education
is that it inspires awe and wonder and enthusiasm, and it has
deep connections to every curriculum area. Many of our favorite math lessons,
for example, came from Mission Mathematics, a publication from
the National Council of Teachers of Math. It's full of wonderful aerospace
activities that helped my kids learn their math, through rich, mathematical
explorations.

EW: Can you provide another example of how teachers might help
students make those connections?

Morgan: The thing that's helped my students make those connections
is this: We help our students learn about our world. But the world isn't
just Earth. Earth is one very small part of the world. Our world is the
universe. And so, for example, one year when I was teaching second grade,
an English lesson on telephone etiquette triggered some questions from
my students about how telephones work, which led us to learn how we communicate
via satellite systems. That simple English lesson evolved into a project
in which the kids designed and built their own models of communication
satellites for Earth and other planets. And they used the telephone --
politely! -- to invite their parents to come see the results. I think
one of the things that excites kids so much about space is that the universe,
as far as we know right now, is constantly expanding -- and that provides
us open-ended opportunities for very exciting learning.

EW: You mentioned earlier that interviews like this provide
you with an opportunity to stay in touch with your colleagues. Is there
a message you would like to send them?

Morgan: Please tell them that they have the most important
job in the world -- and they are doing a great job. And tell them to keep
at it because I'll be looking to pick a lot of brains when I get back
to the classroom.